Francis Rattenbury

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Francis Mawson Rattenbury (1867-1935) was an architect born in England, although most of his career was spent in British Columbia, Canada. He was responsible for many well-known buildings in Vancouver and Victoria, including The Empress Hotel, the British Columbia Legislative Buildings, and many banks, government buildings and residences.

1 Architectural career
2 Personal life
3 Work
4 External links

[edit] Architectural career

Rattenbury was born in 1867 in Leeds, England. He began his architectural career with an apprenticeship in 1884 to the "Lockwood and Mawson Company" in England, where he worked until he left for Canada. In 1891, he arrived in Vancouver, in the new Canadian province of British Columbia.

The province, anxious to show its growing economic, social and political status, was engaged in an architectural competition to build a new legislative building in Victoria. The new immigrant entered, signing his drawings with the pseudonym "A B.C. Architect," and won the competition. Despite many problems, including going over-budget by $400,000, the British Columbia Legislative Building was officially opened in 1898. The grand scale of its 500-ft long facade, central dome and two end pavilions, the richness of its white marble, and its use of the currently-popular Romanesque style contributed to its being seen as an impressive monument for the new province. Rattenbury's success in the competition garnered him many commissions in Victoria and other parts of the province, including additions to the Legislative Buildings in 1913-1915.

Rattenbury also worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway as their Western Division Architect. His most well-known work for the CPR was the Empress, a Chateau-style hotel built in 1904-1908 in Victoria, with two wings added in 1909-1914. The architect, however, fell out with the CPR and went to work for their competition, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad. He designed many hotels and stations for the GTP, but they were never completed due to the death of the owner, Charles Melville Hays, in the sinking of the RMS Titanic and the company's subsequent bankruptcy. The CPR allowed him to return, however, and he built the second CPR Steamship Terminal in Victoria in 1923-1924 in association with another architect, Percy James. Rattenbury and James also collaborated in the design of the Crystal Garden at the same time, although they later had a public conflict over Rattenbury's refusal to give James credit and payment for his work on the Garden.

Just as quickly as he became popular, Rattenbury and his architecture was out of favour. Perhaps a symptom of his waning popularity, he lost the competition to build the Saskatchewan Legislative Buildings, built 1908-1912 in Regina, to E. and W.S. Maxwell, two Montreal architects trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In contrast to the Maxwells, Rattenbury had no formal training in architecture and, with the increasing professionalism of the field, was soon outpaced by better-trained and better-educated architects.

[edit] Personal life

Soon after winning the competition for the Legislative Buildings in Victoria, Rattenbury was involved in a series of financial ventures. Most notably, he planned to supply meat and cattle to prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush and he ordered three steam trains to serve the Yukon Territory. These investments eventually became profitable. After World War I, however, his luck turned sour with the failure of some financial speculations, eventually leading to conflicts with his business partners.

His personal life also begin to show strains at this time. In 1923, he left his wife Florence Nunn, whom he had married in 1898, and his children Frank and Mary for 27-year-old Alma Pakenham. His maltreatment of Florence, including having the heat and lights turned off in their home after he moved out, and his public flaunting of his affair led his former clients and associates to shun him, forcing him to leave Victoria. He married Alma in 1925 after Florence agreed to his request for divorce. He returned to Victoria in 1927 with Alma, and they had a son before deciding to move to Bournemouth, England in 1929, the same year that Florence died.

In England, his financial problems continued, causing his relationship with Alma to disintegrate. She began an affair with George Percy Stoner, her chauffeur. In 1935, Rattenbury was murdered in his sitting room by blows to the head with a croquet mallet. His wife and Stoner were soon charged. Stoner was convicted and sentenced to death, although it was later commuted to a life sentence. The charges against Mrs. Rattenbury were dropped; she committed suicide a few days later. The case report is studied by law students throughout the common law world, who for the most part have no notion of Rattenbury's association with Victoria, or Canada.

[edit] Work

British Columbia Legislative Buildings, Victoria (1891-1898, additions 1913-1915)
Roedde House, Vancouver (1893)
Bank of Montreal, Victoria (1896)
Lieutenant Governor's Residence, Victoria (1901, destroyed by fire in 1957)
Victoria High School, Victoria (1901)
Court House, Vancouver (1905-1913, remodeled in 1983 as the Vancouver Art Gallery)
Merchant's Bank, Victoria (1907)
Court House, Nelson (1909)
Empress Hotel, Victoria (1904-1908, additions in 1909 and 1914)
CPR Steamship Terminal, Victoria (1923-1924)
Crystal Garden, Victoria (1925)